OT: September 11, 2001. Where were you?

[Outkaster]

Just in remembrance for the victims of that day I thought I would start a thread. Do you remember where you were when the events unfolded?

 

I live about 5 hours from the city here in Upstate NY. I was working in sales-support for an infection control company and was 33 at the time. We all went into a board room because we initially heard it was a small plane or something that hit the tower. No one was sure what was going on? The internet was all clogged up, no one could get on. Everything crashed, I remember trying to get to MSNs home page. We went back to the board room and then we stood watching TV. I could not believe it and saw the second tower hit. We had a sales rep on the George Washington Bridge that was trying to call in to give us us news. That whole day was weird and very sad. I remember a co-worker went back to her desk and started working like nothing was going on. I couldnt fuckin believe it, she acted like nothing had happened and this was the single most history changing event unfolding. I remember going to the supermarket later and people were walking around very fearful and quiet that night. It was the first time we were attacked on our own soil and people were feeling vulnerable.

 

I used to play keyboards in a Reggae band that performed every Weds night here at a club that has since closed. Well since it happened on a Tuesday we played the next night and 200 people came out, we normally pulled about 100. We did not know how people would react and I think people at that point just wanted to be together and came out. We were not even sure we were going to play even at load in. I remember playing Marleys War onstage that night. Before we started playing I remember people constantly looking into the sky because that sky was still so blue, almost looking for planes that might be flown into downtown buildings. I knew that things would not be the same after those events on 9/11. You could almost just sense it.

[Jeff_D_in_MD]

I was at a conference in a hotel in Crystal City (Arlington) Virginia, near the Pentagon and adjacent to National Airport. Pentagon smoke visible from bar on top floor. Washington DC evacuated; gridlock on all streets including Route 1 next to the hotel. Airport closed, thousands of people walking along the roadways and filling up all the nearby hotels. I stayed at the hotel until that evening when traffic thinned out enough.

 

[Geoff Grace]

I had been up all night working in my studio, and I decided to visit the forums before I went to bed. This is what greeted me when I went online:

 

holysh*t is anyone watching the news?

 

2 Passenger planes hit 2 world tower blgds in NYC

 

SOMEBODY CHECK ON DANSOUTH

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[BigJPatton]

Midtown NY, doing everything I could to escape the city.

[J. Dan]

I remember getting ready for work, coming downstairs and my room mates had the news on looking at what they thought had been an accident. I was standing there watching it live as the 2nd plane hit. I stopped at the gas station on the way to work and everybody was talking about it. We actually put a TV on at the office to keep up with what was going on throughout the day.

[Synthoid]

I was driving to an appointment with a client when I heard the news on the radio. Hadn't gotten very far from the house, and I immediately called my client and shared what I had just heard. She couldn't believe it... and was totally stunned for a minute. I immediately went home and watched the breaking news on TV.

 

 

 

[sakari lindhen]

I was on sick leave and watching the morning BBC news here in Europe. They were showing live video of the Towers when the second plane hit, which was so shocking.....Remained glued to the BBC for the rest of the day.

[DaveMcM]

I was working at Baldwin Piano Co. in Mason, OH. We had a small TV but reception was lousy so I went to Lowes behind the store and bought a better antenna. My fellow employee and I watched as the second plane hit the tower. I can't really describe the feeling other than just horrific. I also vividly remember seeing video of President Bush sitting in a school classroom with young children when a secret service agent came in a whispered to him what was happening. How he kept his composure is beyond me.

 

Side note: I just finished a trilogy of books from Simon Toyne and without giving away a spoiler, it would be so nice if the ending could actually happen some how. The hate, killing and destruction in the world must come to and end.

[podmed]

In between surgeries at the hospital. Was difficult to stay focused. Very surreal day. Grateful for our freedom.

[Tonysounds]

I was home watching my kids, getting them ready for school. (Kindergarten and 2nd grade) The TV was on with the sound off, which it usually was back then, and I just wasnt paying attention to it. My wife was in Albuquerque visiting her sister, who lives very near Los Alamos, which we started to worry could be a potential target. She called me and asked me what I thought. About what? Arent you watching the news???? I turned the volume on, and started watching the screen and listening, and I just couldnt believe it. I thought there had to be some mistake. WHO would fly a plane into a building?

 

That week was hard. My wife wanted to get home, obviously she couldnt get on a plane, trains were triple booked, she thought about renting a car and driving home, and I told her to stay where she was until she could get home (she was ticketed for a return trip, but we both figured that for the next few weeks, air travel would be chaotic). I even thought about throwing the boys in the car and driving to Albuquerque to get her, but like everyone else, the events made me question the wisdom of travelling across the country, not knowing when or if the next attack would happen, how it would happen, what would be struck, and of course our own govts response; maybe roads would be closed, maybe there would be border checks. Un-real thoughts in an un-real situation

 

[Mr. Nightime]

I had recently started working for a health care organization here that has 4 hospitals. I was working at Cape Canaveral Hospital that day, and walked by the lab waiting room. I saw the TV, and initially thought that for some reason they were replaying the Oklahoma City bombing. It wasn't until I went in the waiting room that I realized it was live.

 

The guy I was training with and I sat there watching in total disbelief.

 

 

[GovernorSilver]

I was driving on Bayshore Blvd. to work at One Tampa City Center in downtown Tampa, FL. It was surreal to listen to the news on the radio while driving along this lovely, scenic route along the bay, with Tampa's skyscrapers in front of me. One Tampa City Center was one of Florida's tallest buildings too. When I arrived at my cubicle on the 36th floor, there was already an email in my inbox telling everyone to take the day off and go home.

[HammondDave]

Drove to school to tell my students to go home and be safe... Very sad day indeed. Watching the broadcast replay on MSNBC right now.

[HammondDave]

Just a statement of appreciation to all our patriots who died or were injured on that day. And appreciation to the brave first responders. Our hearts are with you.

[resigned]

I was home all day on 9/11 (Hilton Head Island, SC at the time) and saw everything on tv as it happened. I always get up early and turn on the news so I watched the events live. It just happened to be a day that I was off work.

[LX88]

I wasn't anywhere near a TV that day. I had been bicycling in the country that day,enjoying some gorgeous weather. It always seems to be nice this time of year.

 

In the afternoon I went to visit my mother ( who died in 2010 ) and she told me that two buildings had been hit by planes and collapsed.

[voxpops]

I was at my home in Cheshire, England watching the news as it unfolded, horrified. My American wife was out shopping. I had to break the appalling news to her when she returned.

 

I do hope that when my grandchildren's generation is running things, we've found a way to better accommodate our differences as a species.

[Dr88s]

Twelve years later and I still can't wrap my head around the evil that was perpetrated that day. I am not American but stand alongside my neighbo(u)rs to the south in defending freedom and liberty.

 

 

[Sparky2]

I moved to Baltimore after working on the 71st Floor of One World Trade. I was in my office downtown when the radio broadcast was interrupted. We found someone with one of the little 7" portable TV's and huddled around her desk. I felt sick when building One fell. Many businesses closed and it was eerily quite in Baltimore. I couldn't leave the TV for a few hours. It was weeks before I learned how many people I used to work with had perished. Tried listening to the rebroadcast this morning but couldn't. I'd like to get a copy of the documentary that was released about the firehouses, though. The one that was being filmed coincidentally. Some of the best coverage IMHO.

 

Mark

[Bobadohshe]

I had slept in and was home in L.A. for some reason that day and not at college. I came downstairs and my mom said something like, "Don't you know what's going on? It's the worst day in the history of our country!", then I saw the T.V. and watched the coverage for the rest of the day. I don't remember what I felt to be honest but I'll never forget that day.

[Tusker]

I dropped my son off at daycare, and I heard the horrible news on NPR. Then my brother from Australia called to find out if we were ok. I spent the rest of the day trying to make sense of it. Lots of time on this community ... and trying to chase down facts on the phone. Making sure friends and family in NYC were ok.

 

Since that day, I have met so many people whose lives were changed forever that morning. My thoughts are with them today.

[Ken Beaumont]

At work, saw it on the Drudge Report so we brought in a television and watched it unfold. Then the CEO dismissed us all for the day to be with our families.

[Rusty Mike]

At the time, I was the lead IT Architect for a project my company was working for the largest WTC tenant. We were in the final testing stages of a refreshed network that connected 25 floors of WTC2 and most of WTC5. We had a team of about 8 people doing testing, implementation and documentation, and our lab was on the 74th floor of WTC2 (better known as the South Tower).

 

While the testing was going on, I had taken on another project for a NJ client, and was scheduled to deliver my final assessment report to them that afternoon via telephone. I was working out of my home office that morning, and did not have my television on. My mother in law called me soon after the first plane hit and asked if I was alright. I told her I was working from home and she told me to turn on the TV. This was just before the second plane struck WTC2.

 

Needless to say, I spent the next several hours trying to track people down by phone. The cell phone network was clogged and data networks were congested, making it somewhat difficult to confirm everyone's status. Fortunately, not everyone had arrived at work yet, and those who had had evacuated when they saw the debris from WTC1 falling from the tower. The client had a backup facility a few blocks north in TriBeCa, and some of the company officers (and a few from my team) were already walking there to light it up.

 

In the effort to hunt others down, I neglected to contact my own parents, who knew I worked on a project at WTC. Once again, the phone system was congested, and I didn't receive their voice mail on my cell phone for an hour or so. My parents were obviously quite relieved when I finally contacted them.

 

Everyone from my team had made it out. In fact, my client had only a few casualties, one of which was the head of their security who was doing a final walkthrough of WTC2 when it collapsed.

 

One colleague was on the PATH train from Hoboken when WTC1 was struck, and they were forced off the train at Exchange Place, which is the last NJ stop before WTC. Exiting that station puts you on the Jersey City waterfront, with a clear view of downtown NYC. He came up just in time to see the plane strike WTC2. Another colleague was driving in on the NJ Turnpike, part of which has a view of downtown and the Statue of Liberty. He caught the same moment.

 

Our team spent the next year or so helping the client relocate all their people, first to emergency space in Jersey City, then to Midtown Manhattan, then to Queens. The Jersey City location had huge windows looking across the river, enabling a disturbing view of the smoldering site. A very hard thing to look at for those few weeks.

 

My last visit to WTC was just a few days before. One of my access badges had expired and I needed to renew it. You needed a Port Authority WTC badge to enter the ground floor elevators, and then a company badge to access the client's offices. I have a brand new WTC access badge that was used only once.

 

One of the most vivid things in my memory was how perfectly beautiful the weather was that day. The temperature was great and the skies were crystal clear. It's ironic the things that stick with you.

[timwat]

I was driving to my office. 5 minutes from my house when my boss called me. Told me to turn around and go back home, spend the day with my family and keep the news on. I still remember the sound of his voice, how eerily light the traffic was, and how mind numbing the next several days were as details unfolded.

[Dave Bryce]

Three edits just made to this thread.

 

Please refrain from political commentary....as well as from replying to/quoting anyone who chooses not to refrain, as their posts probably won't be there for very long.

 

Thanks,

 

dB

[Aussie_Chicago]

I was in the second day of Fire Academy, we started the 3 month academy on the Monday, 9/11 was Tuesday morning. Yes, I was about to become a full time firefighter, something I dreamed of for years, and I finally made it ! Well, 9/11 was a huge wakeup call for everybody involved in the emergency services, at just how dangerous, and un predictable our job can be. We all got sent home that day, with the pretence " we understand if you don't come back tomorrow", everybody came back with more enthusiasm than any instructor had ever seen....and 12 years on, Im still a proud firefighter/ paramedic. I lived in NYC , Harlem , before moving to Chicago, and I personally knew at least 3 FDNY guys who answered their last alarm that day....RIP brothers. 343

[I-missRichardTee]

I was in San Diego, but I am formerly from a few miles from where this horror unfolded. My Mom told me she was on a bus in Jersey City that offers a perfect view of Trade Towers, only a day or two prior to their destruction. She said she had one of those intuitions about the vulnerability of those buildings, but seeing as it was a negative thought, she quickly ejected this vision of sorts. My Mom was intuitive wasn't she? Two unrelated females reported to me that people in Jersey City rooftops were enjoying the sight. The event itself, plus being told this, left me in about a ten year state of anger. The only other feelings I had were huge compassion for people faced with burning or jumping. And humbling feeling for the many heroes during that period... love the NYC spirit, esp fire fighters. One other thing, a drummer named Greg Gerson http://www.gregggerson.com/ who moved to San Diego told me he witnessed one of the planes as it was above his head about a mile or less north of its target. He had played with Billy Idol, and quit playing drums, because for six months, this wonderful human being freely elected to work ON the six story high pile of death and destruction that was burning with bits of human remains and hot steel. Here is his website God bless the courage and goodness of people like Greg. My anger finally abated a few years ago.

Another Jersey singer I am friends with, was slated to BE on or near the top floor of the Trade Center THAT evening!

[WesG]

I was in my office, wondering why the hell DNS servers went down, and why I couldn't phone the provider in one of the WTC towers... and also wondering why the hell everybody else was in the lounge watching TV instead of helping me.

 

Then I was wondering why the hell the internet was so slow...

[Mogut]

would have thought google would have some acknowledgement on their search page... nope

[I-missRichardTee]

I was in the second day of Fire Academy, we started the 3 month academy on the Monday, 9/11 was Tuesday morning. Yes, I was about to become a full time firefighter, something I dreamed of for years, and I finally made it ! Well, 9/11 was a huge wakeup call for everybody involved in the emergency services, at just how dangerous, and un predictable our job can be. We all got sent home that day, with the pretence " we understand if you don't come back tomorrow", everybody came back with more enthusiasm than any instructor had ever seen....and 12 years on, Im still a proud firefighter/ paramedic. I lived in NYC , Harlem , before moving to Chicago, and I personally knew at least 3 FDNY guys who answered their last alarm that day....RIP brothers. 343

Fire fighters are at the top of my list of day to day usung heroes. Thank you for your heroic choice.